The exponential increase of plastic production produces 100 million tonnes of waste plastics annually which could be converted into hydrocarbon fuels in a thermal cracking process called pyrolysis. In this research work, a direct current (DC) thermal plasma circuit is designed and used for conversion of low density polyethylene (LDPE) into diesel oil in a laboratory scale pyrolysis reactor. The experimental setup uses a 270 W DC thermal plasma at operating temperatures in the range of 625 °C to 860 °C for a low density polyethylene (LDPE) pyrolysis reaction at pressure = −0.95, temperature = 550 °C with τ = 30 min at a constant heating rate of 7.8 °C/min. The experimental setup consists of a vacuum pump, closed system vessel, direct current (DC) plasma circuit, and a k-type thermocouple placed a few millimeters from the reactant sample. The hydrocarbon products are condensed to diesel oil and analyzed using flame ionization detector (FID) gas chromatography. The analysis shows 87.5% diesel oil, 1,4-dichlorobenzene (Surr), benzene, ethylbenzene and traces of toluene and xylene. The direct current (DC) thermal plasma achieves 56.9 wt. % of diesel range oil (DRO), 37.8 wt. % gaseous products and minimal tar production. The direct current (DC) thermal plasma shows reliability, better temperature control, and high thermal performance as well as the ability to work for long operation periods.

Nuclear fusion is a sought-out technology in which two light elements are fused together to create a heavier element and releases energy. Two primary nuclear fusion technologies are being researched today: magnetic and inertial confinement. However, a new type of nuclear fusion technology is currently being research: multi-pinch plasma beams. At the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, there is research on multi-pinch plasma beam technology as an alternative to nuclear fusion. The objective is to intersect two plasma arcs at the center of the chamber. This is a precursor of nuclear fusion using multi-pinch. The innovation portion of the students’ work is the miniaturization of this concept using high energy electrical DC pulses. The experiment achieved the temperature of 2300 K at the intersection. In comparison to the simulation data, the temperature from the simulation is 7000 K at the intersection. Additionally, energy harvesting devices, both photovoltaics and a thermoelectric generator, were placed in the chamber to observe the viable energy extraction.

Ion propulsion is a technology that offers low thrust but high specific impulse for small spacecraft. The propulsion system can be used for attitude control and deep-space missions. A disadvantage ion thrusters have is the high cost of the propellant. Xenon is a widely used propellant for ion thrusters; however, it is expensive. In addition, the manufacturing of the ion thruster can be costly. This paper presents a low-cost ion thruster that uses nitrogen and argon as its propellant. The thruster is named capacitive discharge ion thruster (CDIT) because the plasma is generated by a capacitive discharge. The force, specific impulse, mass efficiency, power efficiency, and thrust efficiency of the CDIT using nitrogen is 0.564 mN, 2 300 s, 0.44, 0.75, and 0.34, respectively, at a mass flow rate of 25 µg/s. La propulsion ionique est une technologie qui offre une faible poussée, mais de grandes impulsions spécifiques pour les petits systèmes spatiaux. Ce système de propulsion peut être utilisé pour le contrôle de l'attitude et pour des missions dans l'espace lointain. Un inconvénient des propulseurs ioniques est le coût élevé de l'agent propulseur. Le xénon est un agent propulseur largement utilisé pour les propulseurs ioniques. Il est cependant coûteux. En outre, la fabrication de propulseurs ioniques peut être coûteuse. Cet article présente un propulseur ionique à faible coût qui utilise de l'azote et de l'argon comme agent propulseur. Le propulseur est nommé le propulseur ionique à décharge capacitive (CDIT) parce que le plasma est généré par une décharge capacitive. La force, l'impulsion spécifique, l'efficacité massique, l'efficacité énergétique et l'efficacité de poussée du CDIT en utilisant l'azote sont de 0,564 mN, 2 300 s, 0,44, 0,75 et 0,34 respectivement à un débit massique de 25 µg/s. [Traduit par...